Brick-machine



UNITED srafililis PATENT onirica.

RIOHD. LONG, OF COLUMBUS, OHIO.

BRICK-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 8,301, dated August 19, 1851.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, RICHARD LONG, of Columbus, in the county of Franklin and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Making Bricks; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this speciiication, in which- Figure l is a plan of one of my improved machines; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical section in the line in Fig. l. Fig. 4t is a transverse vertical section in the line t f, in Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is an inverted plan of the mud mill, showing the cut oif open. Fig. 6 is a plan of the carriage which supports the mold bed, including a section of the shaft above the wheel for driving the carriage, and, sections ofthe posts on which the mud mill is supported. Fig. 7 is a longitudinal section of the mold bed, molds and bottom of the mud mill, taken in the same line as Fig. 3. Fig. 8 is a transverse section of the same taken inthe same line as Fig. 4.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in each of the several ligures.

My invention consists in a carriage, supporting a mold bed carrying at each end any suitable number'of movable molds, which by the longitudinal motion of the carriage back and forth, are brought under and removed from apertures in the bottom of a mud mill, which are alternately opened and closed by a cut off; the carriage being always stationary with one set of molds under the mill, during the time the apertures are open, to admit of the filling of the mold' that being effected, the apertures are closed by the cut o' and the `filled molds withdrawn while a set of empty ones at the other end of the carriage, are brought int-o position for filling, the former set being re- `moved, emptied .and replaced, or empty ones substituted, while the bed is stationary and the latter set are being filled. rlhe clay is forced into the molds by inclined blades on the shaft of the mud mills, and the moven ment of the mold bed and its carriage is effected by a toothed wheel near the bottom of the shaft, into gear with which a pair of racks, one near each side of the carriage are alternately brought.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A A, is the mud mill supported at a suitable height above the ground by posts B, B, firmly secured in sills C, O, which form the foundation of the machine.

D, is a vertical shaft resting in a step bearing on a sillF, secured to the foundation O, O, and having a guide bearing in a rail above the mill; it carries a series of arms F, F, each of which carries anumber of knives a, a, whose lower ends are bent in a direction opposite to that in which the shaft rotates, and a series of inclined blades or scrapers Z), near the bottom of the mill; it also carries near its bottom end below the mill, a toothed wheel G.

H, H, is the mold bed carriage, consisting of a strong frame of about twice the length of the mud mill, it is provided under each side with a grooved rail c, extending nearly its entire length and fitting and resting on tongue pieces (Z, (Z, on each side of the foundation on which it slides, being kept from tilting by guide pieces e, e, secured to the out-side of the posts B, B.

I I, is the mold bed consisting of a flat bed of timber secured to the carriage H, H, it is provided on its upper surface with two stationary ribs f, f, extending nearly its entire length. A small boX g, of the width of the molds, is secured in line with the molds on each side of the bed, at about the center of its length, carrying a wet sponge for wiping the out off hereinafter described.

72., it, 7L', il", are flat boards or plates which are laid one on each side of the bed at each end of the boxes g, g, carrying the Sponges, they are placed closeup to the sides of the ribs f, f, and form the bottoms of the molds.

K, K, K, K, are the molds consisting of frames of wood, metal, or wood lined with metal, they are each divided into three compartments z', z', z', suitable for one brick each, the said compartments being open at top and bottom.A The molds are placed upon the boards lah, 7i', h', with their sides close to the ribs f, f, and their ends close to the boxes g, Q, and are held in place by wedges on keys y', j, which pass through the bed.

7c, Z0', are the rack bars, which have journals at each end fitting in bearings in the ends of the carriage H, H; each carries a toot-hed rack Z, of the same pitch as the wheel G, and an arm m, at the center of its length, at the back of the rack standing at nearly a right angle to it, each is provided at one end with a lever p.

There is astationary rail or slide 0, on each side ofthe machine secured to the posts B, B. This slide is equal in length to the required length of travel of the carriage minus the width of the ear m.

There are apertures Q, Q, Q, in the bottom of the mill for admitting the clay to the molds; these are of smaller size than the molds, to prevent the clay wiping the sand from their sides while entering them.

The cut off for closing the apertures consists of a sliding plate L, L of nearly the same external dimensions as the bot-tom of the mill, fitted close below the bottom so as to be capable of sliding back, and forth, it has two openings 1", r, 7", 1', see Fig. 5, whose length is equal to the distance between the extreme ends of the apertures Q, Q, Q, each opening r, r, having two recesses s, s, equal in width to the spaces between the apertures Q, Q.

There are two plates M, M, secured firmly to the bottom of the mill, which fit lengthwise in the opening r, 7', and are provided with tongues t, t, fitting the recesses s, s. By sliding the plate L, L, in one direction openings are formed corresponding in size and form with the apertures Q, Q, Q, in the bottom of the mill; and by sliding it in the other direction they are closed. Levers N, N', having their fulcra m, in eyes secured to the foundation are connected at their upper ends by pins y, y, to the plate L, L. These levers receive the necessary motion for closing and opening the openings Q, Q, Q, at the commencement and completion of the filling of the molds, through wheels 0, o', o", 0"', hung on axes a, e, in the carriage H, H, which come in contact with them during the motion of the frame.

u, u, are springs of india rubber placed between the mold bed and its carriage at each corner, and the bolts o, v, which secure them together, pass through the said springs; by screwing in or unscrewing the bolts, the molds may at all times be made to fit close up to the cut off, and .any shrinking or expansion be compensated for.

The operation of the machine is as follows: Two attendants are required one at each end of the carriage. The shaft D, receives a rotary motion by horse or other power, in the direction of the arrow l, in Fig. l. Suppose the carriage to be moved to the left, to its farthest point, as shown by Fig. 8; the molds K', K', will then be under the mill, and the apertures Q, Q, Q, open see Fig. 9. The racks Z, Z, are both thrown back out of gear with the wheel G and the shaft, D, allowed to perform about half a revolution for the purpose of filling the molds, which will be done by the inclined blades B, B, which act in a similar manner to a screw forcing the clay through the apertures into the molds with great pressure, being assisted by the bend of the knives a, a. In consequence of the opening, Q, Q, Q, being smaller than the molds, the clay fills down to the bottoms ZL', ZL', and spreads out toward the sides; the sand with which it is usualvto cover the interior surface of the molds to prevent the brick sticking is thus undisturbed. Zhen the molds are full the lever p, of the rack bar 7c', is thrown up by the attendant at the opposite end of the car riage, to that under the mill, and its rack thrown in gear with the wheel G; see Figs. 3 and 4. The carriage immediately commences moving to the right or in the direction of arrow 2, in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, and the wheel 0"', comin at once in contact with the inner face of t e lever N, throws it out- Ward, drawing the cut off plate L, L, to the position shown in Figs. 1 and 4, closing the apertures Q, Q, Q. The rack is kept in gear by the ear m, which rests on the slide 0, and travels along it. As the carriage travels on, the Sponges in the boxes Q, g, wipe the faces of the out O clean, and just before the stroke is finished, the wheel 0,' coming in contact with the lever N', throws it out and opens the cut off as shown in Fig. 9.

By the time the stroke is finished the ear m, on the rack bar passes over the end of the rail and the rack falls back out of gear with the wheel, stopping the carriage. The cut 0E remains open for filling the molds K, K, during which time those K' K' are removed, and emptied or others substituted. `When K, K, are full, the attendant atfthe right hand end of the carriage raises the lever p, of the rack bar 7:, and throws the opposite rack to that last described into gear with the wheel G, starting the carriage back to the left or in the direction opposite to that last described, the ear m, of the bar 7c, running along its slide o. The cut off is closed. by the wheel O", acting on the lever N, at the commencement of the stroke to the left, and remains so until the wheel O', comes in contact with the lever N', and opens it, immediately after which the ear m, falls over the end of its slide, and throws over the rack bar 7c, throwing the rack out of gear and stopping the carriage when the mold K, K, may be removed. It may be here observed that when the racks are out of gear, they rest on the slides 0, 0, which prevent their falling back too far:

The operation of filling the molds always commences immediately the carriage stops, and proceeds while the filled ones are being' removed, the cut olf being always closed immediately the carriage commences traveling and remaining so until the instant be fore it completes its stroke, when it is opened in the manner described, and remains so during the whole time the carriage is stationary with either set of molds under the mill.

The revolution of the shaft D, should be continuous, as the time occupied in removing the bricks from the molds, or substitutingempty molds for full ones is just sufficient for lling the opposite set.

The number of molds may vary, butA the i number shown is well suited to the perfect operation of the machine. Two attendants may work it one at each end walking back and forth with the motion of the carriage. But with four attendants the bricks may be removed and empty ones placed on the bed with greater rapidity, so that with a machine having the number of molds herein represented driven by one horse twelve thousandbricks may be made in a day.

What I claim as new in my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The mode of cont-rolling,` the operation of the mold bed carriage, and driving' it in either direction by the combination substantially as described, of the toothed wheel G, on the mud mill shaft, the rack bars 7c, 7c', and their racks Z, Z, and arms or ears m, m, attached to the carriage, and the slides 0, on the stationary framing.

2. The mode of operating the cut oli plate L, L, for the purpose of opening and closing the apertures communicatingbetween the mud mill and the molds by means of the levers N, N', attached to them, and to the framing in combination with the wheels O, O, O, O, on the mold bed carriage substantially as herein shown.

RICHARD LONG.

l/Vitnesses:

JAS. R. TUTTLE, R. P. L. BABER. 

